


#70 You Know I Love the Players but You Love the Game

by baekedaelights, vikinglord



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Chess, Enemies to Lovers, Football, High School, M/M, idk??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 07:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20578808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baekedaelights/pseuds/baekedaelights, https://archiveofourown.org/users/vikinglord/pseuds/vikinglord
Summary: Jongdae pranks the high school heartthrob not realising that things may take a turn against him instead.





	#70 You Know I Love the Players but You Love the Game

**Author's Note:**

> I finally have access to this story lol. Anyway, thank you to the mods for arranging this fest, I am honestly loving this baekchen feast! Also to all the wonderful authors who participated, thank you ♡  
Also to the readers, thank you for clicking on my story I hope that you do enjoy ^^

The dripping water was slowly turning bright pink, seeping in between his toes as it made its way into the drain near his feet. What? Pink? He distinctly remembered his shampoo being a light beige, strawberry scented, yes but most definitely a boring beige colour that did not bloody stain the floors of the locker room showers. Running a quick hand through his hair to get most of the foam out, and taking a towel to wrap around himself to spare the rest of his teammates the shock his naked body (his beautiful naked body, mind you) he ran to the huge mirror behind the sinks. 

His wet, dripping reflection stared back, eyes wide as he stared at his state in horror. The first thing he noticed was the pink, the bright pink taunting him right before his eyes. His hair was sticking out at awkward angles, pink water dripping down his forehead as it made its way into his face.

A loud roar of laughter sounded from one end of the bathroom. Baekhyun turned his head sharply towards the tall ass freshie, sending him a death glare and effectively shutting the boy up.

He glared at the rest of the football team that was all in various states of undress after the morning practice. No one dared to laugh at the vice captain no matter how comical his cotton candy hair looked. "Who did this?!" he almost roared glaring at each face in the room.

"Oh hey, Baek. Got new hair?" Wu Yifan broke the utter silence of the room as he walked in from the showers, giving him a pat on the head, letting out an unveiled laughter. Right. No one dared to laugh at the vice captain  _ except _ the captain. Baekhyun just glared at him in response, mentally thinking of ways to murder the other in his sleep. 

"Umm... I think I saw Kim Jongdae running out of here a while ago... maybe he..." Jongin, another freshman and the newest addition to their team, spoke up. The boy was timid and shy with most people but had warmed up to them over the past few months. Baekhyun didn't like picking favourites but if was to do so Jongin would get the top spot. 

"Kim who now?" Baekhyun quizzed. He prided in his knowledge of the entire school and most of its inhabitants but he was unaware of anyone of that name which was odd considering the fact that it wasn't really that uncommon of a name.

Jongin pursed his lips, clearly uncomfortable about blatantly accusing someone when he had no clear evidence, "H-he's the president of the chess club from 11-C. I don't know if it was him who did it but why would he come to our lockers...?" 

_ President of the chess club, huh? _ Baekhyun had to scoff. _ Who does this guy think he is, messing with me? _ "I'll see to this Kim Jongdae." he said the name with such bitterness the entire football team (even Yifan) shuddered. No one wished to be on the end of Byun Baekhyun's wrath.

....

"Jongdae, Byun Baekhyun's looking for you. Run!" he got a forewarning from Junmyeon. The senior boy looked frantic as he appeared in front of Jongdae's desk, accidentally knocking down a couple of his classmates on the way.

Jongdae gawked at him. His brain too slow to catch up to the other. "Byun Baekhyun? Where?" he finally got the words out.

"Here! He's heading right here. I don't know how but he knows you did it. I warned you didn't I? God only knows what he'll do now." Junmyeon was babbling more to himself than to Jongdae. His hands waving around in an exaggerated manner when he suddenly grabbed Jongdae's hand and forcefully pulled him out of his chair and dragged him to the classroom door.

In their rush both of them hit a very strong, solid surface, conveniently blocking their way out.  _ Ouch. _ Jongdae peeled his eyes from the very strong looking chest, clad in the red gym uniform. He gulped, slowly praying for luck to be on his side for once as his eyes travelled the path up from the chest, stopping to admire the sharp jawline and finally resting on twin brown ones that reflected fierce rage. FUCK.

Byun Baekhyun stood with his fists clenched and his eyes squinted as he stared down at Jongdae and even though he wasn't much taller than him, it was still really intimidating. However, the other's hair was a real spectacle. Jongdae's latest masterpiece. It was evenly coated in bright bubblegum pink with some of the roots still dark where Baekhyun's original hair was unbleached but the dark hair was still tinted in pink, showing up when the light hit the hair at the perfect angle and making a gorgeous transition of colour.

Under normal circumstances, Jongdae might have been amused, feeling triumphant that his plan worked out. But these weren't normal circumstances and Byun Baekhyun was standing in front of him with his pink hair and projecting all his anger onto him and honestly, it was a little (okay maybe a lot) hot.

Jongdae blushed at his inner thoughts. He shouldn't have been thinking such things about the other. Not when he was fuming at him and practically screaming at him. Wait, what? Byun Baekhyun was saying something to him?

"I said are you Kim Jongdae?!" Jongdae was finally brought out of his thoughts and heard the vice captain say forcefully, terrifying the life out of the students around them. 

"No. I'm his identical twin from outer space." he sassed. Although such an attitude would not be recommended in a situation like that, especially with how ready Baekhyun looked to tear him apart. But Jongdae couldn't help it. Snarky remarks and sassy attitude made up more than half his personality (maybe that’s why he was lacking in the getting a boyfriend department).

"Huh?" the now pink haired boy's face completely changed, confusion taking over as he gawked back at him. Seemingly at a loss. 

"Oh, look there's the real Kim Jongdae!" he pointed to the left of the hallway behind Baekhyun, who instinctively looked up behind him. Jongdae saw this opportunity as a chance for escape and ducked below the other's raised arm and ran out to his freedom_. He actually fell for that!_ _Seriously are all jocks really this dumb? _Gloating to himself, he sprinted out of school premises, away from the tyrant's (read: Byun Baekhyun's) hold.

…

KS: Dae, you messed up big time. Byun Baekhyun is actually going to murder you if you show up tomorrow!

Jongdae groaned, slumping further into the living room sofa as he read his friend's text. With his parents being away at work and his brother at university he was completely alone at home with nothing to do. Plus all his friends were still at school so he couldn't hang out with them either. 

He pulled himself up from the sofa and dragged himself towards the home computer aka his semipermanent play of residence. His fingers mechanically turned on the computer and looked on to his online gamer profile for Real Chess 2.0. He looked at his list of friends all of whom were all unsurprisingly offline.

He groaned again, this was starting to become a habit, before he clicked the button that'd chose a random player online for him to compete against. As minutes turned into hours, he found himself glued to the seat, staring at the monitor as he was about to get his sixth consecutive win (here was a reason he was chosen as the new President of the chess club after all). Among all this, he'd completely lost track of time and his attention only diverted when he heard the front door click open. 

"Jongdae?" his mom was standing behind him, "didn't you have a shift today?" 

"Shit!" he cursed out loud as he realised that yes he did. He looked at his phone to check the time, he was already fifteen minutes late. He mentally cursed again before jumping out of the seat and rushing to the front door with a "Bye, mom. I'll be back by dinner."

…

Jongdae was lucky his boss was cool with him getting late sometimes. Although he did receive a stern look when he entered through the back door of the diner and was immediately sent to change and start work. 

"What would you like to have?" Jongdae internally cringed at the sickly sweet voice he was made to use when dealing with customers. He had been working non stop for the past two hours, doing rotations between the tables. The day was unusually packed for a weekday but that would also mean more tips and Jongdae wasn't one to complain. Although he was getting more and more disoriented as time passed because of exhaustion.

In his disoriented state he didn't notice the people he was taking his order from. The red jackets of the football team didn't register in his brain until a while later when his gaze settled on bright pink hair and an angry expression, "YOU!" Byun Baekhyun was glaring at him, fists clenching and unclenching as they sat on top of the table. He saw the other's gaze flick to his nametag.  _ Fuck these stupid plastic things. _

Jongdae gulped. He was so dead. Byun Baekhyun and his group of huge ass friends were surely gonna beat him up to bloody pulp. Just as he was imagining the horror of being beaten to pulp he heard Jae call him from across the diner, "Jongdae, hold the counter for me for a sec!" 

Instantly, taking that as his cue to leave, Jongdae bolted in the direction of the counter. For the rest of his shift he didn't move an inch from behind the counter and much to his surprise Byun Baekhyun didn't move either. Although he did spare Jongdae a couple of stinkeyes every so often whenever the other would catch his eye.

That one random encounter with the devil himself aside, Jongdae's entire week passed by quite smoothly. He feigned being sick when his parents asked about him skipping school and since Jongdae was usually not the kind of kid to skip school without a reason they believed him.

However, by the end of the week both his parents and his friends started insisting on him going back to school.  _ You can't just keep skipping classes like that.  _ Heeding to their words, he made it to school right on time for his first class.

After that chance encounter with Byun Baekhyun at the diner the other day Jongdae was starting to think that maybe the other's reputation preceded him. Maybe he really wasn't someone he should fear. He had the chance to get back at him several times but the other didn't do anything so maybe there was no reason to be scared. Still, Jongdae thought it was best to be cautious. So, instead of hanging out with his friends in the school cafeteria, he took his lunch to a secluded corner on the rooftop, out of everyone's sight. 

He was in the middle of admiring the view of the grounds below when he heard footsteps behind him, immediately alerting all his senses. "Ehm." he turned around to face the person making the sound was none other than Byun Baekhyun complete with his linked hair glory and all.

He stared at the other wide eyed. The other, too, looked back at him in mild surprise before his usual calm and self assured expression took over. "I'm not gonna do anything don't worry." he said before standing next to him and staring down at the scene that he'd been admiring earlier. Jongdae took a moment to take in his words. It was true. So far the other hadn't tried anything funny and if he did Jongdae could easily chuck him off of the rooftop (okay he didn't have that big of a killer intent). 

"I come here to think sometimes." Byun Baekhyun started, his voice soft as he continued staring out into open space. Jongdae just stood there, at a loss for words. This was the first normal conversation they were having and his mind was struggling to come up with something to say. Fortunately, Byun Baekhyun was amazing at keeping conversations going even if he was the only contributor. He turned around sharply so that now he was facing him, "Kim Jongdae…" He paused, lips pursing as he did, "Jongdae. Can I call you that? If that's okay of course." Jongdae could only nod before the other continued. "Can I ask what prompted you to do it? I mean what did I do that made you do it?" His hair swept along with a sudden gust of wind, the pink strands waving at Jongdae as if to indicate what  _ 'it'  _ meant.

Jongdae suppressed his laughter. Oh, so Mr. Popular here cares about his reputation and what people think of him more than what colour his hair was. He looked at the other only to be met with such a serious expression that Jongdae almost wanted to tell him, "Maybe try figuring that out yourself?" He might just let the other suffer a little more. He smiled to himself when he saw a sudden shift in his expression. 

With that, he stepped away from the railing they were leaning against, "Is that all you wanted to ask?" Jongdae asked, already picking up his unfinished lunch, getting ready to leave.

"Yeah." Baekhyun answered back, his eyes clear as he started back and Jongdae almost faltered in his steps when looked into them. Byun Baekhyun had the power to enrapture him and it was getting too much.

"Okay, well, I'll leave you alone with your thoughts then." he said and quickly made to leave--

"Wait. Jongdae." he was stopped by a hand on his arm, "I---" the other looked at him with a sheepish expression. Jongdae, however, was more focused on the hand on his arm which the other quickly retracted once he realised what Jongdae was staring at. "I wanted to ask, Mr. Ong set you guys the same assignment last week right?"

This time Jongdae had to laugh. Byun Baekhyun really did manage to catch him by surprise every time, "You want help with homework?" 

"Kind of." his expression still sheepish. "Come on you can at least help me out after making me look like a clown in front of the whole school." He pleaded with soft eyes and how could Jongdae not cave in because of that.

"Alright. I've already finished my work. You can come get it from me after lunch." 

"Okay." Jongdae swore he saw two puppy ears sprout from the other's head for a second.

…

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo had pulled their chairs on either sides of his and were arguing over something or the other. Jongdae had long since learned how to mute their bickering because it led to nowhere almost every time. Instead, he chose to gaze outside of the classroom where a bunch of students in white uniform were gathered. Suddenly among a group of raven hair he saw a peek of bubble gum pink.

Oh.

Murmurs started throughout the classroom as Byun Baekhyun himself sauntered in. His presence was so strong that even Chanyeol and Kyungsoo stopped arguing and turned to look at him only to realise that was walking directly towards them.

"Jongdae."

There was an audible gasp that rang throughout the room when the other said his name. They were all curious what the famous Byun Baekhyun wanted from him. After all, they had all witnessed the fiasco last week. They were ready to see more drama.  _ What a dramatic bunch. _ Jongdae thought before he got up from his seat, grabbed his bag and dragged Baekhyun out of the room.

"You didn't have to make an appearance like that you know." Jongdae groaned once they were in the hallway, a safe distance from prying eyes.

"But you were the one who told me to---" Byun Baekhyun started.

"I know. I just didn't realise that you'd end up making a scene like that." Jongdae paused, he knew the other had a snarky comeback ready at the tip of his tongue but for some reason he didn't say anything. Instead he answered with a small pout that made Jongdae almost forget what he wanted to say. Why does he have to be so cute? "Anyway, he's the homework you wanted." He quickly fished out a file from his bag in an attempt to distract himself and get himself as far away from the other as possible.

"Thanks, Jongdae!" Baekhyun beamed at him, "I return it to you tomorrow, okay?"

"You better return it, Byun Baekhyun or you'll have consequences to face." He let the half hearted threat roll out.

"I will." He paused, brows knitting together as if he had something more to say, "Since I call you by your first name can't you just call me Baekhyun too. I mean we're kind of familiar with each other right?" 

"I---" Jongdae was again rendered speechless by the other. He managed a small "Okay." He never wanted to be 'familiar' with Byun Baekhyun. This wasn't part of the plan. Just how the other managed to make Jongdae warm up to him, if only a little, was a mystery to him. He could almost forget all that Byun Baekhyun had done in the past.  _ Almost. _

He was sure all of this was just an act. There was no way Byun Baekhyun… Baekhyun had completely changed overnight. Whatever game he was playing Jongdae was not going to fall for it.

…

What Jongdae didn't realise that getting rid of Baekhyun wasn't all that easy. He'd just gotten back from work and was lying on the living room sofa when his mo. called out to him, "Jongdae, you have a friend at the door." 

What friend? Jongdae got up and made his was to the hallway where he saw his mom chatting with none other than Byun Baekhyun!

He was dressed casually in a plain black shirt and black jacket. Jongdae couldn't help but admire how good he looked especially with his pink hair slicked back to reveal his forehead.

"Jongdae."

"Huh?" Jongdae's reverie was broken just like that and he acknowledged the person standing in front of him was talking to him. "Oh."

"I'll leave you boys to it then." his mom patted his back before turning around, "Also, you're staying over for dinner right, Baekhyun?"

Wait. What? Why was he even here in the first place?

"I guess I am." Baekhyun passed over a mischievous grin in Jongdae's direction.

"Uhhh why are you here?" Jongdae asked once his mom was out of sight.

"To study of course." he waved a backpack in front of Jongdae's eyes, still smiling that stupidly charming smile of his. "I tried getting help from your homework but I suck at History and I don't understand a thing." He ended with a signature pout.

"And you think I will help you because…?" He subconsciously led the other to the living room.

"Because I still have your homework and I won't give it back until you help me finish mine." He plopped down on the sofa as if to make it clear that he was not going away.

Jongdae groaned, "Ughh fine." He should've known Baekhyun would pull a stunt like this.

He wanted to ask so many questions like how did he find his house or how come he didn't have anyone else to help home with his homework. He was sure there were many who would die to spend time with the football vice captain and yet he was here with someone would much rather not. However, as it turned out all those questions were left unanswered and they lost themselves into work for the next hour.

Baekhyun wasn't as dumb as Jongdae previously assumed he had tried doing a good part of the homework himself. He only asked Jongdae about the parts he was stuck at and Jongdae would explain everything in detail, recalling all that he remembered from his previous History lessons. Somewhere along the way they had gone from sitting on two opposite corners of the sofa to sitting side by side with their thighs almost touching.

Jongdae's face heated up when he realised how close they were. At the same time Baekhyun's hands reached for his Jongdae's essay that was in his hands and their fingers brushed lightly. As if hit by an electric shock, Jongdae immediately let go causing a flutter of papers to fall from his hands. He could feel his hands getting clammy and he needed a second to breathe.

"Jongdae, are you okay?" 

Baekhyun turned towards him, his face close that Jongdae could make out the tiny blemishes on his otherwise flawless face. He saw his eyelashes cast a shadow over his cheeks as he looked at him in concern. 

"I'm fine." Jongdae shot out of his seat, putting as much distance between them as possible, "I'll see if dinner is ready." With that he escaped to the kitchen.

Minutes later Baekhyun was also called to the kitchen for dinner by Jongdae's mom. His dad was caught up at work and couldn't join them so it was just the three of them.

"So, Baekhyun are you from the chess club too." Jongdae's mom asked him.

Baekhyun scoffed internally but sobered up his expression, "No. I'm not from the chess club." 

"Oh really? I haven't seen Jongdae making friends outside of his club." 

Jongdae interjected, "Mom, Chanyeol wasn't in the club when we became friends."

"True. But you did force him to join soon after didn't you?" His mom commented.

"Yeah. And now he's even getting better than me." Jongdae dulled in his seat.

Baekhyun found it cute that Jongdae took something as lame as chess so seriously. Still, he couldn't let the topic of the conversation drift away from himself, "I'm more into physically challenging sports like football." He paused, seeing how Mrs. Kim was actually listening to him he continued, "I'm actually the vice captain of our school team."

"Oh that's amazing." she turned to her son, "You should try football too, Jongdae. You're turning so pale by staying inside all the time."

Jongdae groaned and sent Baekhyun a murderous look as if it was his fault his mom was scolding him.

Baekhyun grinned at him, flashing his pearly white teeth and everything when he felt something kick at his shin. He grin faltered and he saw a mischievous expression taking over Jongdae's face. Baekhyun wanted to rip that expression off his face but all he could so instead was kick back. 

The rest of the dinner was spent with them kicking each other under the table and having a composed conversation about school with Mrs. Kim. Baekhyun ended up enjoying his time and even offered to stay and wash the dishes but was firmly refused by both mother and son for different reasons of course.

"I guess I'll see you then." He said as Jongdae stood in the doorway. 

"Hopefully not." 

Baekhyun could tell there was no weight to his words and maybe he enjoyed hanging out too. He laughed lightly to himself, "Bye, Jongdae." He didn't wait for the other to return the greeting and turned towards the pavement. Although Jongdae might've not said anything in return at all. He just stood there at the door, watching Baekhyun's retreating back as it turned the corner and made its way out of sight.

…

"Checkmate." Kyungsoo said casually, moving his queen a couple square forward. 

Jongdae groaned. He was really losing his touch. Even Kyungsoo could beat him now.

"How is it checkmate?" Seunghoon, a junior from their chess club stood squinted at the board. Jongdae appreciated that he wanted to take Jongdae's side but if there was anything he hated the most it was having to explain chess moves to a newbie. He let Junmyeon do it instead and shifted away from the board to sit next to Chanyeol.

They were sitting on the grass in the school ground. A once in a lifetime occurrence for them but the weather was too good for them to be stuck inside the confines of their club meeting room.

"Oh my God! You lost to freaking Kyungsoo?" Chanyeol didn't know when to shut up. "Kyungsoo doesn't even put any effort when he's playing against us and you lost to him."

"Shut up." Jongdae made a face. "Be my emotional support." He forced his much taller friend to lend him his shoulder when he rested his head, still sulking. 

"Oh there, there." Chanyeol patted his head. His methods of providing emotional support were the worst but at least he tried. "You're still number one on our RC leaderboard aren't you?"

"I am." Jongdae said, pouting although he felt a little better knowing that he did better in online chess than anyone else.

From a far corner of the ground, Baekhyun and his football team were emerging, dressed up in their red uniform as they got ready for practice. Baekhyun immediately spotted Jongdae when his gaze went in the particular direction where the chess club was sitting. 

They look awfully close. Baekhyun's brain supplied upon seeing Jongdae with his head on top of a taller guy's shoulder as the other ran his fingers through his hair. Feeling this strange urge to break them apart, he strides towards them, leaving his team behind. 

"Jongdae!" he called out loud enough to be heard by the other.

Jongdae looked up and sighed in exasperation and hid his face in Chanyeol's shoulder. 

"Jongdae." He could tell that Baekhyun was a lot closer now with his voice.

"Go away. Jongdae isn't here." He waved at what he assumed was Baekhyun's direction, his head still buried in his friend's shoulder. He didn't want to deal with Baekhyun at the moment especially after remembering how clustered he became in his presence.

Unfortunately, he wasn't given a choice and Baekhyun forcefully pulled his arm and made him stand next to him. Still, holding his hand he turned to Chanyeol, "Do you mind if I borrow your friend for a sec?" Chanyeol just stared at him, surprised and without waiting for an answer Baekhyun dragged Jongdae away.

"Can you not?" Jongdae pushed him away slightly and untangle their arms. The physical contact had been killing him and Baekhyun seemed completely unaffected. He crossed his arms over his chest, afraid that the other might try to initiate more physical contact and he just wasn't ready for that. "So, what did you want?"

Baekhyun didn't say anything for a moment. He just wanted to get Jongdae away from his clingy friend. Now what. "Umm… we have our football final next week." He gestured towards where his team had already started practicing. Jongdae raised an eyebrow at him. "I wanted to invite you to watch the game."

"No thanks." Jongdae said as he made to leave.

"Wait." Baekhyun reached to grab his arm again but the other pulled it away before he could do so. He did, however, stop. "You can bring your friends too if you want."

Jongdae squinted his eyes at him, "Why are you doing this?" Baekhyun blinked back at him, "You know what, nevermind. I'll come to your stupid game if I have the time. Can I leave now?" He saw how Baekhyun's expression changed and he felt a little sorry for being so rude but before he could say anything else the other was already leaving.

"Okay I'll see you Wednesday then." His lips were still pursed as he waved at him and jogged away towards the football field.

"What's up with you and Byun Baekhyun?" Chanyeol asked as soon as he got back. 

"I don't know."

"Yeah you've talking quite a lot recently." Yixing piped in from somewhere behind him. Quite a lot would not be the right way to define it. Baekhyun had for some reason taken to waving at Jongdae whenever they were in the hallway. He'd also borrowed a few history notes from him but other than that their interactions were far and few in between. But then again, going from complete strangers to talking at least twice a day throughout the past few days could be considered "quite a lot".

He still hasn't told his friends about Baekhyun coming over to his house. If he did, he'd probably never hear the end of it. The less they know, the better.

…

"Dae, I'm hungry." Baekhyun whined, rolling on his bed, thankfully away from where their homework was.

"What did you call me?" Jongdae looked up at the other.

"Isn't that what all your friends call you?" 

"Yes. But you, Byun Baekhyun aren't my friend." 

"Ouch." Baekhyun dramatically put a hand on his chest, the other waved about uncontrollably. He shooed him away as his flailing hand landed close to Jongdae's neat pile of notes. 

"Fine. I'll find something to eat." Jongdae got up, "Just don't touch anything."

Baekhyun had once again shown up at his doorstep demanding help with his homework. Jongdae had felt awful about his behaviour with the other last time so he decided to let him in. Two hours later instead of Jongdae helping Baekhyun it was the other who had started helping him out with his own homework. Who knew that Baekhyun would be so good at Calculus. 

"I can't believe it's finally coming out." Baekhyun was standing in front of Jongdae's full length mirror when he got to his room, arms full of all the snacks he could find. The other was pushing back strands of his hair to reveal his soft bleached hair underneath, examining it while also revealing his forehead for Jongdae's viewing pleasure. 

He tore his gaze away from Baekhyun's hair, which was now a beautiful array of dark roots with light blonde and pink reverse ombre effect. "Baekhyun." He gestured towards the food and the other almost jumped towards him, snatching a pack of chips from his hands and settling down on his bed to start eating them.

"Thank you." He mumbled in between munching at chips.

Jongdae sat down next to him opening up a random pack and pouting while eating from it, "You took the only Doritos we had." 

Baekhyun looked at the chips and pulled out one offering it to Jongdae, bringing it be we his mouth. Jongdae hesitated a little before eating it. "Aren't you gonna share yours?" Baekhyun pointed to his packet.

Jongdae turned the open part of the packet in his direction but Baekhyun extended his mouth in his direction.  _ Oh, he wants me to feed him _ . Blushing furiously, Jongdae fed him a chip. He unintentionally brought back the fingers he fed Baekhyun with and licked the flavouring off of them. Baekhyun's eyes zeroed in on the fingers before he coughed and averted his gaze.

Oblivious to the other's inner turmoil, Jongdae turned towards his Calculus homework. "Oh I did the rest of the sums for you." Baekhyun said. "They were super easy and you were taking ages with it."

"You can't just do my homework for me." Jongdae liked to do all his work himself no matter how much he struggled. He had taken help from someone before which was probably why he was close to failing Calculus. "But thank you." He said after a while. He really was grateful for Baekhyun's help.

"It was nothing. Now come show me your manga collection." Baekhyun was crouched near his book shelf and waved him over.

They ended up talking about manga after that, their books still strewn all over the bed as they sat among them, looking at the volumes Baekhyun had managed to pull out from Jongdae's shelf. They sat shoulder to shoulder, reading and cracking jokes about the character designs.

Somewhere in the middle of a volume, Jongdae felt that Baekhyun had gotten really quiet. He was only giving noncommittal responses. He turned his head only slightly to see the other looking right at him. Their faces merely inches apart. Jongdae could feel Baekhyun's breath fan over his face. The other looked at him as if in a daze and before Jongdae knew it the distance between their faces closed and their lips met for the briefest of moments.

He didn't know which one of them did it. All he knew was the warm feeling of Baekhyun's lips against his. The softness of his plush mouth for the miniscule of a second before they quickly pulled away. Baekhyun hurriedly got up from the bed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." He grabbed his stuff and not once making eye contact with Jongdae he rushed out of the room. 

A moment later he heard the front door shut with such power Jongdae had to shudder.  _ Shouldn't have done that?  _ Baekhyun's words resounded in his head. His unconsciously touched his lips, the ghost of the kiss still remained, replaying everything from by frame.  _ Why would he say he shouldn't have done that? _

…

Baekhyun felt like kicking himself. He didn't think he was capable of doing that to someone as pure and innocent as Jongdae. When he started all of this, he didn't think he would end up developing this strange bond with the other that he'd feel sorry for him. He really was an awful person. No wonder everyone at school either hated or was scared of him.

He slipped into his room as soon as he got back home and buried himself in his blankets. He could still feel the other's lips against his. His greedy self had wanted more but he couldn't do that to Jongdae. He hadn't realised when the other he started caring about the other's feelings so much. More than his own at times. He made the decision to call the whole thing off tomorrow. Jongdae didn't deserve that.

…

On Monday morning Jongdae didn't see much of Baekhyun. He passed by him in the hallway but he didn't get the usual wave or the cheeky grin. Instead it just looked like he wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

Jongdae's mood damped after that. He didn't eat much during lunch and constantly kept an eye out for Baekhyun. In his free period he ducked away to the gym locker room which also served as the meeting place for the entire football team. If there was anywhere that he could find Baekhyun it'd be there. 

He stealthily made his way into the locker room, hoping not to get kicked out. He had a strange reminiscence of the day he'd sneaked in to put hair dye in Baekhyun's shampoo. That seemed like such a long time ago now.

He heard a few people in the locker room. "Why did Baek call off the bet anyway." One of the voices said.

"It's Baekhyun were talking about he probably just got bored." Another voice, still time a much deeper one said. "Who would even want to hang out with a boring person who's obsessed with chess?"

Obsessed with chess? They were definitely talking about him. Jongdae backed out from the locker room. He hadn't listened to the entire conversation but he could make out what was being said. Baekhyun had apparently made a bet with his friends about him. Jongdae cursed himself for not trusting his initial instinct about the other. He just let himself be played by him like the fool he was.

He thought about their kiss. Was that all fake too? It probably was. It was some sick way of getting back at him. Manipulating his feelings and then leave him hanging.

Jongdae couldn't control the sudden tears that escaped. He wanted to shut himself away from the world and so he found himself in a bathroom cubicle where in the solace of tiled walls he let all his emotions out.  _ Fuck you, Byun Baekhyun. _

…

It was Wednesday. The day of the big football finale against a rival school. Half their classes got cancelled that day and the entire school was gathered in the football field. Jongdae seethed when he saw the football team clad in dark blue uniforms of the team enter the field. Baekhyun along with Kris was at the front leading the rest of the members. Even under the awfully bright sun he looked beautiful. Jongdae anger against the other still hasn't subsided.  _ I hope you break your leg today. _

He didn't realise the effect of his words until two hours later a fresh faced boy, Jongin, as he introduced himself came rushing in the library. "He keeps calling for you." The boy said.

Jongdae rushed to the nurse's office where the rest of the football team had gathered. All eyes turned towards him and he felt a little weird being the centre of attention. His attention got diverted, however, when he spotted Baekhyun on the hospital bed clutching his leg. 

"Baekhyun." He said in a small voice. He hadn't talked to the other in the past few days but his name flowed naturally from his lips.

"Jongdae?" He tried opened his eyes to look at him. "Can you guys leave us alone for a while?" He told everyone in the room. 

Jongdae awkwardly stood by the bed as everyone shuffled out. The nurse Baekhyun to take more of the painkillers if he felt any more pain before she too left the room.

Jongdae looked at the awful state he was in. He somehow felt that it happened because of him and felt guilty because of that. "How do you feel?"

"Like shit." Baekhyun replied, he still managed a smirk before his expression turned serious. "Listen. Jongdae. I need to tell you something. I might chicken out of it if i put it off any longer--"

"Baekhyun don't. I have a feeling that I already know what you're gonna talk about." 

"You do? Then, you don't hate me because of it?" He looked so genuinely confused that Jongdae felt this need to protect him.

"For a while I thought I did. But I cannot bring myself to hate you. Anyway it was well deserved wasn't it? You just did it to get back at me." Jongdae had felt all the anger he had in him dissipate the moment he saw Baekhyun looking so helpless on the hospital bed. 

"No. It wasn't right. I should've known that before. What was I thinking?" Baekhyun was rambling. "I was trying to get close to you so I could so I could manipulate your feelings that's so messed up. And then going ahead and kissing you? You probably didn't even want that. I wasn't even thinking about you. I was thinking about my own messed up feelings and how you looked so pretty that day. You really don't need a scheme to mess up someone's feelings Kim Jongdae and make them question their own sexual orientation--"

"So it's my fault huh?" Jongdae smirked at him, making Baekhyun realise that he had said too much.

"I make people question their sexual orientation?" Jongdae's lip tails curved up in an almost devilish smile.

Baekhyun whimpered in response as Jongdae came close enough that he was tower over him. He felt the other's breath as he came closer still. Baekhyun automatically felt his body chased after him and soon Jongdae was almost lying on top of him as their lips met in a hurried, hungry kiss. There was nothing soft and sweet about it as both of them vented their emotions through their mouths.

Jongdae explored every crevice that he had dreamed of since their first kiss and let Baekhyun do his own exploration. They parted only when they were completely out of breath and their lips swollen and red. 

"I have wanted to do that for so long." Jongdae leaned his head against Baekhyun's shoulder and whispered in his ear, sending dingles down his spine.

"Yeah? What else have you wanted to do?" Baekhyun's teasing voice came.

Jongdae moved his head to kiss his temple, then his cheeks before reaching his lips and looking at him dead in the eye, "How about I show you Instead?"

Baekhyun couldn't help but laugh at the cheesiness of the moment, "I would love that, babe but I think I have a concussion coming on." 

x

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was my first time writing a high school au and I honestly struggled a lot (in case it didn't already show). Also the story was extremely rushed at the end because I was busy with life and couldn't concentrate on it so yes I am aware of the loose ends that I didn't tie in >< But I'm so grateful for all of those kudos and comments. I really appreciate it!!


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